No. 8 Liberty to Host No. 16 Old Dominion, Friday in Regular Season Finale
10/27/2021 2:59:03 PM | Field Hockey
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No. 8 Liberty will close out regular season play with a home match against No. 16 Old Dominion, Friday. Match time is 3 p.m. at the Liberty Field Hockey Field.
What’s at Stake
Liberty (14-2) enters the contest on an 11-game winning streak and in first place in the BIG EAST at 6-0. The Lady Flames have already clinched a share of the BIG EAST regular season title. With a win on Friday, Liberty would earn the regular season title outright and lock up the No. 1 for the upcoming 2021 BIG EAST Field Championship, which would both be program firsts.
Old Dominion (13-3) brings a 5-1 BIG EAST mark into the game and is in a tie for second place with No. 20 Connecticut (9-9, 5-1 BIG EAST). If ODU were to defeat Liberty on Friday and UConn were to best Temple in its regular season finale on Friday as well, the Lady Flames would still be the No. 1 seed for the BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship due to a tiebreaker. In that scenario, Liberty, ODU and UConn would all be 6-1 in conference, but the Lady Flames would be the No. 1 seed due to goal differential in league games.
The Monarchs would earn the No. 1 seed for the BIG EAST Tournament if they defeat the Lady Flames and if Temple tops UConn on Friday. In that scenario, ODU would be the No. 1 seed based on its head-to-head win over Liberty, followed by the Lady Flames (No. 2 seed) and Huskies (No. 3 seed).
Lady Flames News and Notes
• Liberty won a pair of games last weekend, defeating Providence 5-2 and No. 22 Kent State 2-1. During the Lady Flames’ current 11-game winning streak, they have outscored their counterparts 47-9.
• Old Dominion is on a four-match winning streak. The Monarchs topped Temple 2-0 and William & Mary 2-1, last weekend.
• Liberty is 7-6 all-time against ODU. The Lady Flames and Monarchs met five times during the spring 2021 campaign, with Liberty winning three of the five matchups. Liberty is 6-5 against ODU since joining the BIG EAST.
• Junior forward Daniella Rhodes was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week. Meanwhile, freshman forward Martu Cian earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. Liberty has received 16 weekly awards (15 BIG EAST, one national award) in eight weeks, this fall.
• Liberty leads the nation in four offensive statistical categories: goals per game (4.12), scoring average (4.12), points per game (11.81) and assists per game (3.56). The Lady Flames also rank second in scoring margin (3.00), eighth in penalty corners per game (7.69 and 12th in goals-against-average (1.12) and 16th in shutouts per game.
• Rhodes is third nationally in both goals per game (1.15) and points per game (2.77). Senior froward Jill Bolton is seventh in the country in goals per game (0.94) and points per game (2.25).
• Liberty has five ranked wins this season, a program record. The Lady Flames are 5-2 against top-25 teams.
• Liberty moved up one spot to No. 8 in this week’s Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. The Lady Flames have been ranked among the top 10 teams in the country in four straight weeks and five of eight weeks overall.
• Liberty is also No. 8 in the NCAA Field Hockey RPI listing, the best among BIG EAST teams. Old Dominion is No. 15, and Connecticut is No. 20.
• Liberty is 37-9 in BIG EAST regular season matches since joining the conference prior to the 2016 season.
